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Friday, March 11, 2016

Zika virus – another reason to dislike mosquitoes!

While I’d like to think I’m omniscient and
try my best to get my son and husband to think so, sadly I am not. One of the last blogs in 2015, All
I Want For Christmas, talked about the WHO’s list of emerging pathogens
that are likely to cause severe outbreaks in the near future, which few or
no medical countermeasures exist. WHO’s
prescient warning included Zika virus.
I’m sure back in December I would harbour a guess that most people
outside of the public health and infection prevention realm would not have
known what Zika virus was. Today, based
on the fact that a Google search gave about 118,000,000 hits in under 0.6
seconds, I would say that the number of people who know about Zika virus has
grown exponentially.

Zika virus has been
reported in Africa and parts of Asia since the 1950s, and in the southwestern
Pacific in 2007. In 2015, Zika virus emerged in South America with widespread
outbreaks reported in Brazil and Colombia.
Since Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites, travellers to countries
where Zika virus is actively circulating and to countries in tropical and
subtropical regions where the virus has the potential to circulate should take
precaution. Twenty to twenty-five
percent of people infected with Zika virus are believed to develop symptoms.
These can include low-grade fever, headache, red eyes, and rash along with
joint and muscle pain. The incubation
period of Zika
virus ranges from 3 to 12 days. The disease symptoms are usually mild and
last for 2 to 7 days. Most people recover fully with simple supportive
care and without severe complications (hospitalization rates are low). Zika
virus infection may go unrecognized or be misdiagnosed as dengue, chikungunya
or other viral infections causing fever and rash. Treatment is generally limited to symptom
relief.

In November 2015, the Ministry of Health of Brazil
established a relationship between an increase in cases of microcephaly
in newborns and Zika virus infections in the country’s northeast. Given
reports of cases of apparent sexual transmission of Zika, pregnant women’s sex
partners living in or returning from areas where local transmission of Zika
virus is known to occur should practice safer sex or abstain (throughout the
pregnancy).

Currently, there is no prophylaxis, vaccine or treatment for
Zika virus. Prevention is limited to reducing mosquito populations, as mosquitoes
and their breeding sites pose a significant risk factor for Zika virus
infection. Prevention and control relies on reducing mosquitoes through source
reduction (removal and modification of breeding sites) and reducing contact
between mosquitoes and people.Everyone
should avoid exposure to mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves and long pants,
and using mosquito nets during the daytime as well as insect repellents.

Perhaps this is not the best topic leading up to March break
when some of you lucky ducks will be heading off to beaches and warmth. I’m not meaning to be a fear monger, but the
speed with which Zika virus went from a mild concern to a public health threat
is worth sharing. If you’re leaving
Saturday you still have time to run out and get some mosquito repellent, a
mosquito net and put away all of your shorts and t-shirts and pack long pants
and shirts!